Cannes is, of course, a festival of contrasts. If you're a Palme D'Or judge, you have to watch 19 films, some of which will explore the grinding pointlessness and misery of human existence. But, hey, if you're a movie star, you've also got to be noticed.

The hardest-working festival judge in this regard must surely be Kate Beckinsale, who has been seen in more frocks – Gucci? Balmain? Marchesa? she asks herself of a morning – and hairstyles than anybody.

It's been a tough 10 days. Red-carpet premieres, special screenings and yacht parties, all of which require a different look. The British actor, daughter of the late Porridge actor Richard Beckinsale, recalled this week that she first came to Cannes 17 years ago, part of the cast in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing. Then, she walked down the red carpet wearing steel-toed Doc Martens.

Not this year. Asked how she was coping with getting glammed up so often, she told one journalist: "It's a bit like getting married five times a week."

Beckinsale and her fellow judges – the panel is chaired by director Tim Burton – are now on the last straight with just a world war two Red Army movie and a Hungarian Frankenstein film left.

By common consent, this has not been a vintage year. Nothing has set the festival on fire – unlike last year, for example, when Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon and Jacques Audiard's A Prophet were a sensation. Many critics are this time tipping Mike Leigh, for Another Year, while others favour Xavier Beauvois' Of Men and Gods. The winners will be announced on Sunday.